Carolina in my mind

Chapter 39

"Is Rick still throwing a fit?," Carolina asked, scooting across the mattress to make room for Michonne. The woman nodded before she flopped down onto her bed.

"Hershel's out there talking to him," she said. "But he's still going apeshit."

Carolina cringed, her body going momentarily tense before she wriggled her shoulders and forced herself to relax. She knew Rick was going to be upset if something happened to his pigs. He not only caught the animals, he built their pen and took them on as a personal project. He was convinced that his pigs were what was going to get the group through the winter. Carl even named a few of them. But Carolina still didn't expect the man to get as upset as he was. He was outside having a near full on nervous breakdown.

"I feel sorta bad," Carolina admitted. "Maybe we should have gotten rid of their bodies…"

"It would have taken too long," Michonne whispered, reminding her of the discussion they had out by the pig pen the night before. "Someone would have seen us."

"I know," Carolina said, swiping a stray lock of hair out of her face. "But it had to be bad walking out there to feed them and seeing their bloody piggy corpses lying everywhere."

Michonne nodded as she pulled at the hem of her vest to stop it from riding up. She was trying not to think about it. But it was bad enough killing the pigs. She didn't vomit while they were doing it. But Carolina did. And they'd been mentally prepared for what they were about to do. She could only imagine how it might feel to walk up on such a gruesome scene without warning. Michonne shifted her body closer to Carolina's and they snuggled in next to each other, both of them looking for a bit of comfort after what they'd done.

"How much more do you know?," Michonne asked, her voice scarcely above a whisper. "I mean other than the stuff about the pig flu and what happened to me…" Michonne could feel Carolina's body go slightly tense against hers. And she reached her hand over, taking Carolina's hand in hers and holding it tight.

"I know more," Carolina admitted. "But it's all mixed up with the things that didn't happen that should have and things that I hope don't happen. I thought I saved Merle. But he died anyway. And I hope bringing Tara and Lily here was enough to stop the governor from coming back and blasting this place into next week…"

"But you think he's going to come back anyway?," Michonne asked. Carolina paused, thinking over the question. After a moment of reflection she nodded.
"I do."

The governor was going to come back because he was meant to come back. Because the people here had densities and futures that lay outside these high fences. Carolina wished they could stay here forever. But deep down, she honestly didn't believe that was possible.

"What happens to me?," Michonne asked, regretting the question almost immediately. If she was going to meet the same fate as the pigs outside, she wasn't sure she wanted to know about it.

"Oh, you'll be fine," Carolina said, a little teasing smile in her voice. "You and Tyreese live happily ever after."

Michonne coughed out a laugh. "You're a terrible liar," she accused, making Carolina laugh even harder. They let their giggles fade away into comfortable silence. And when Carolina spoke again, her tone was much more somber than before.

"If the prison falls, we'll all be scattered. Everyone is going to end up heading for Terminus. It's the place where all the train tracks come together on the map. But you can't go there. The people that live there are cannibals. They're luring people in to eat them."

"Damn," Michonne said, "...I'll keep that in mind."

Carolina and Michonne lay in bed together for a little while longer, talking quietly about fate and what the future held for both them and the rest of the group as a whole. Carolina struggled with what to tell the woman and what to keep to herself. In the end, she gave her a few names and the descriptions of people to look out for. Some of them were meant to join the group. And some needed to be stopped from causing them harm.

"I better go," Carolina said, wrapping the other woman up in a hug before she climbed over her and exited the cell. Daryl was hollering up and down the cellblock for her. And given the downward mood of the day, she knew he was going to get upset if he wasn't able to locate her quickly. She could see the look of relief on his face when she stepped out of Michonne's room. And Carolina smiled when he reached for her, pulling her into his arms.

"Is everything okay?," she asked. "Did you figure out what happened?" Daryl released his tight grip on her, keeping one arm around her shoulder as he led her over to the doorway of their cell.

"I figured some kinda animal musta slipped the fence and tore them pigs up," he said, keeping his voice low. "But Rick was right. The cuts were clean. And the bodies were intact. Someone did this."

"Oh no," Carolina fake gasped. "That's horrible."

Carolina was actually feeling more guilty than she thought she would about lying to Daryl. And she wished she could tell him what was really going on before things went any further. But with everything that happened, it was getting harder and harder to tell Daryl the truth. Almost like all the little lies she told along the way were snowballing into one giant betrayal. And if she dropped all that on him at once, she didn't think he would take it well.

"Rick wants to sit down and talk to everyone individually. See if he can figure out what happened," Daryl said, holding back a laugh at Carolina's dramatic groan. She made her peace with Rick for the good of the group. But she still didn't care much for him. And she certainly didn't have any desire to be alone with him.

"I was here with you all night," Carolina said. "Can't you just tell him that?" Carolina wrinkled up her nose like she was smelling a pair of his three day old socks.

"He says even if ya don't know anything, ya mighta seen somethin' that can help," Daryl explained. "Maybe ya saw something that ya didn't think anything of at the time…" Carolina could tell Daryl was placating her with his gentle coaxing tone. Something that, if another man did it, would annoy the shit out of her. But when Daryl talked to her like he thought she was being dramatic, he always seemed just unsure enough of his words to make it cute instead of patronizing. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was the first woman he'd ever attempted to coax into doing something for him.

"I guess I'll talk to him," she agreed, "...but only because you asked me to."

Carolina leaned in, closing the space between them as she wrapped her arms around Daryl's neck. Her body pressed against him. And she brushed the tip of her nose against his, teasing him a little by holding back her kisses. Daryl moved her back a step, so that her back was pressing up against the bars outside their cell. Instead of wrapping his arms around her, he rested his hands on her hips as his body pressed harder against hers.

"Yer gonna do anythin' I ask ya to, huh?," he asked. His hand moved down over the curve of her hip, catching her behind the thigh and lifting her leg up. She wrapped it around him, humming as she felt the growing bulge in his pants hard against the inside of her thigh.

"Only if you ask me real nice," she teased, smiling into the kiss she planted on his lips. As she parted his lips with her tongue, Carolina heard Glenn laughing as he walked by them on his way to the cell he shared with Maggie. Daryl ducked out of her grasp and pulled on his shirt to straighten it out. Carolina laughed, knowing he must have forgotten they were outside the doorway to their cell and not inside it. Their cell block was full of couples. So people were pretty nonchalant about their public displays of affection. But Daryl was a private person. He usually wouldn't do more than wrap his arm around her unless they were tucked away into their own room.

"Rick's looking for you," Glenn warned, smiling over his shoulder at them as he continued on his way. Carolina groaned as she tugged the hem of her shirt down to cover her stomach. She swiped her hair away from her face and headed towards the hallway that led into the other cell block. If she had to talk to Rick, she might as well get it over with as fast as possible.

Rick's integration of her was over faster than she expected. Carolina never went near the pigs. She didn't want to catch the zombie pig flu. So she'd convinced everyone she was afraid of the animals. Since it was well known that she was a city girl before the outbreak, it was an easy lie to sell. Rick asked her if she'd seen anyone around the pig pen. She hadn't. And if she knew any reason why anyone would want to kill the animals. She did. But obviously she lied and told Rick she didn't know shit.

When Rick finished his questions, Carolina was careful not to run from the room. She walked away at a casual pace, planning on heading back to her room to pick up where she and Daryl left off before Glenn interrupted them. But on her way, she stopped to help Carol and Lori wash out a giant bundle of bedsheets and blankets. Carolina only meant to help them with the laundry. But once they were done, she stayed and helped Lori sit the kids down and figure out what reading material and which writing workbooks were the appropriate ones for each of them to be working on. Carolina enjoyed it more than she expected. And she realized that while she might not miss much about her old life, she did miss teaching.

While Carol and Lori made dinner, Carolina sat down with some of the older kids and took turns reading the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. She promised them that if they read a chapter a day that she'd come by, re-read it aloud and discuss the chapter with them. The novel was one of her favorites. No matter how many times she read it, it was impossible not to feel strong empathy for the characters. And it was a good book to start with when it came to classic novels since it wasn't too long but contained lots of thought provoking subject matter. English and literature were not Carolina's chosen subjects when it came to teaching. But she figured reading a good book never hurt anyone.

Daryl kept himself busy for most of the day by helping Rick with his 'murder' investigation. There wasn't much Daryl could do to help. But he did search the area around the pigpen and checked over all the fences to make sure there was no way someone not from the prison group could have slipped into the yard from outside. That took him the rest of the afternoon. When he returned to the cell block, he was surprised not to find Carolina around anywhere. He was worried for a moment. But she was easily located outside the other cellblock, picking at a bowl of venison stew and reading a paperback book in the evening sun. The tabby cat she brought to the prison was curled up in her lap, purring softly.

"Hey," she said, looking up from her book with a smile. She turned the book, displaying the jacket for him. "I told the kids I'd do book club with them. So I figured I better read ahead so I know what I'm talking about."

Daryl nodded before gesturing towards her half eaten bowl of stew. "Gonna eat that?," he asked. Carolina shook her head, handing him the bowl. Daryl took it over to the firepit and topped it off with whatever was left in the bottom of the stew pot, sitting down on the lounger chair next to hers to eat.

"Ya miss it?," he asked. "...teachin'?" He hadn't considered that it might be something she would miss. For most people, the only good thing about the apocalypse was getting out of their nine to five type jobs. But Daryl saw how her face lit up when she mentioned doing book club with the kids.

"I didn't think so. But I guess maybe I do miss it a little," she said.

Daryl smiled at her before he tucked into his bowl of stew. And Carolina assumed that was the end of their discussion about teaching. It made her giggle when Daryl brough it up again later. They were alone in their room enjoying the relaxing feel of coming down from their orgasms when Daryl asked her about the book again. Carolina felt like she ought to be surprised that he'd never read it, but she really wasn't. She tried to explain the plot of the book to him. And somehow they ended up with the lantern in their room clicked on. Daryl snuggled her against him, using her breasts as a pillow and trailing his fingers softly up and down the lengths of her thighs as she read the first chapter aloud for him.

"That's it?," he asked as she marked the page and flipped the book closed.

Carolina laughed. "It's a three hundred page book, Daryl. I can't read you the whole thing right now." She giggled again, this time at the disappointed look on his face. "I'll read you some more tomorrow," she offered. Daryl nodded his agreement to that as he slid up the bed to flip the lantern off. They both wriggled around until the positions they laid in while she was reading were reversed. Carolina rested her head on his chest and hiked one long leg across his thighs. With his arm wrapped around her, it never took her long to fall asleep.

They were still snuggled against each other when Carolina woke up. She rubbed at her face and twisted her body to try and see who was rapping on the bars of their cell. Light was streaming in through the high windows, making it easy to see that the large hulking silhouette outside on the other side of the curtain was Tyreese.

"Ty," Carolina called out, "...is something wrong?" There were people in the prison that didn't care who they woke up or when. But Tyreese wasn't one of them. She didn't think he'd be rapping on their cell bars unless he actually needed something.

"Michonne's not in there is she?," Tyreese asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Naw," Daryl replied, giving Carolina a look of confusion.

"Is she missing?," Carolina asked. She nudged Daryl towards the edge of the bed, wanting him to move so she could get up and pull her clothes on.

"Well she didn't come to my room last night," Tyreese said, talking a little more quietly than before. It wasn't a secret that Michonne liked to slip into his room at night. But the two of them seemed to think it was. "I thought maybe she just fell asleep. But I just checked her cell and she's not in there either. I think some of her stuff is missing."

"We'll be right out," Carolina said, jerking her shirt down over her head. She wasn't worried at first. But now she was actually starting to feel slightly panicked, racking her brain for the last time she'd seen her friend. Her anxiety was catching. And Daryl was now up and throwing his own clothes on.

Tyreese had been nervous to wake everyone up so early in the morning. But Carolina didn't give one single shit. She took off rushing through their cell block, pulling curtains open and yelling for Michonne.

"Her sword is gone," Daryl hollered as he stepped back out of Michonne's cell. He hadn't been in there enough to know if anything else was missing. But he knew the woman well enough to know she didn't go anywhere without her weapon of choice.

Once they were done with their search of their own cell block, Carolina ran outside to ask the night guard if they'd seen the woman. She didn't think Michonne would leave the prison without telling her. But there was a chance she just went out for a walk or maybe to check something out beyond the fences. Thankfully, Sasha was on watch, which meant that someone was actually watching. She hadn't seen Michonne all night. But Sasha was quick to climb down the stairs and join their search. They searched through the other cell block, trying to be slightly quieter about it since there were actual babies sleeping over there. But Michonne was still nowhere to be found.

By the time they got down deeper into the prison where the library and the weird internal courtyard was, Carolina was in total panic mode. She nearly missed the weird look on Rick's face when she disturbed his reading to ask him if he'd seen her friend. Thankfully for her, Daryl was much more observant.

"Rick!," Daryl said, "...you seen Michonne?"

Carolina turned in time to see Rick rising from his chair with a strange expression on his face.

"I was going to talk to you about it," he said.

Carolina took a step towards him. "Talk to us about what?," she asked, narrowing her eyes at the man. "Where's Michonne?" Carolina took another step towards him before she felt Daryl's hand on her arm, holding her in place.

"Now look," Rick said, facing his open palms towards her in a gesture of peace. "She admitted what she did. I didn't have a choice."

"Where is she?," Carolina demanded, pulling against the hold Daryl had on her. When Rick didn't answer immediately, Daryl repeated the question she just asked.
"Where's Michonne? What the hell did ya do ta her?"

"She was the one that killed the pigs," Rick said, clearly trying to exude authority even though his hands were shaking slightly. "She couldn't be allowed to stay here. She was a danger to all of us."

"What the hell did you do to her?," Carolina shrieked. "I'm gonna fucking end you!"

Daryl caught her by the waist as she lurched forward. He was so worried about trying to keep Carolina from scratching Rick's eyes out that neither of them saw Tyreese coming. He barreled past them, colliding full force into Rick. The table rocked and a chair was sent flying. Tyreese knocked Rick down only to grab him by the shirt and jerk him back to his feet. Carolina screamed, elbowing Daryl off her and rushing forward when she saw Rick reaching for the gun on his hip. She snatched it from the holster before he could get a grip on it. Taking a step back, she lifted the gun and pointed it at Rick's face.

"Where is she?," Tyreese hollered, spittle flying from his mouth onto Rick's face. He shook the man, slamming Rick's head against the concrete wall behind him.

"Don't make it so he can't talk," Carolina warned. She cocked the gun in her hands. "If anything happened to her because of you, I'm gonna fucking kill you!," she threatened.

"I didn't hurt her. I gave her a car. A few days worth of food. Extra gasoline," Rick said. "I didn't hurt her. I just told her not to come back."

"Where'd you leave her?," Tyreese demanded. He shook Rick again, his hand coming up to close down around his throat. "WHERE!?"

"On Brighton street," Rick admitted. "...near that subdivision we've been talking about clearing out."

"Let him go," Carolina suggested, glancing at Tyreese. "...and move back. 'Cause I'm about to blow his fucking head off."

There was no word of warning. Suddenly, Daryl's hands were just on her. The gun fired off into the ceiling as he wrestled it from her grip. In the struggle, Carolina took an elbow to the corner of her mouth. And she stared daggers at Daryl as she wiped the little trickle of blood off with the back of her hand.

"Enough," Daryl warned. "Let 'im be. We'll find Michonne."

"Fuck that and fuck you!," Carolina huffed. She pointed at Rick. "He deserves to die for what he did! And not just to Michonne! He cuffed Merle to that fucking roof!"

A wet thumping smack paused them both in mid-argument. And Carolina's eyes widened when she realized that Tyreese was not only punching Rick in the face he was literally choking the life out of him. Daryl dropped the gun and jumped on the larger man, wrapping his arms around Tyreese and trying to force him to let go of Rick. Carolina was knocked backwards in the chaos and she landed on her ass on the floor. Rick slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. And before she could get back up to try and break up what was not a full on fight between Daryl and Tyreese, the entire prison shook from the impact of what was obviously a huge blast. Daryl and Tyreese released each other as concrete dust fluttered down from the ceiling on top of them. Carolina cringed as she cursed under her breath. As if things weren't bad enough already. Now the governor was back.